Gary Meers, Ed.D.

About me

I am an Education Advisor/Consultant for MaxKnowledge. I write courses that assist in the professional development of career college instructors. These courses range in content from the introductory level to advanced instructional development. I started my teaching career as an instructional technology teacher on the high school level, completed graduate school and then moved into higher education. I spent many years in the area of teacher training at the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Nebraska I stared working with career college instructors to improve their instructional delivery skills. As a result of these experiences I have been a consultant to career colleges throughout the United States and a number of foreign countries.

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Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructors as Role Models

Hi James, Thank you for your good comments about how students need to develop a sense of professionalism as they progress in their studies. These skills are essential if the students are going to have productive careers and advance in their responsibilities. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Arthur, You are dead on with your planning in terms of both delivery and variety. I know your students value your preparation efforts and your students will be on the edge of their seats as a result. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Amy, With the professional development plan you have outlined for yourself you are going to be in good shape with your instructional efforts. You have great and extensive professional experiences that you bring to the classroom. By combining these experiences with your varied instructional efforts you are going to have many "ah-ha" moments with your students. Happy teaching. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Stanley, This is a great suggestion. If the students know they can count on you as a part of their support system this really helps with motivation and enthusiasm. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Making a Positive First Impression

Hi All, Thank you everyone for the great comments about how to create a positive first impression in your classes. As you all have said with planning and effort you can establish yourself as the class leader and manager. Once that is done you can build on the development of the students and their learning opportunities. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Motivating Learners

Hi Elinore, I am a big fan of "real life problem solving" situations as well. As you mention they really capture the attention of the students and they get to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills. This really helps with motivation. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Preparing and Delivering Effective Lectures

Hi Erica, Your experience is one from which new instructors can really benefit. This is common for most new instructors. It is hard, as you have learned to judge exactly the time that certain topics will take. You are right on with your next step planning. I know the course this time will go even better. I really like your comments on the use of one good example verses multiple examples. The students can really get their minds around one powerful example and will remember the point. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Developing Clear Goals and Objectives

Hi Connie, Enough can't be said about the need for clear objectives and a well developed syllabus. This helps students to know exactly what the expectations, requirements and polices of the course are. Keep up the good work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Being Successful in College

Hi Steven, Thank you for sharing this great story of success on the part of both the mother and daughter. The challenges the mother faced are common for non-traditional students and with your support she was able to develop the confidence to be successful. Letting her use her life experiences enabled her to see that she could be successful and that she was going to be able to earn a passing grade in the class. I agree with you that even though she earned a B she was the better student in that she had to learn so much and… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor REFOCUS

Hi John, This sounds like a very good model to follow to keep instructors fresh in the material and excited about their classes. The changing around of the courses puts the instructors in the preparation stage once again so they get excited about being able to deliver "new" content to students. Gary

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